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Policy Context

The EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue Platform on Science, Technology and Innovation (HLPD) is the avenue for discussions on research and innovation policy between senior officials from African and European countries. In this section we collect the key policy documents that structure, inform and shape this dialogue.

This leaflet highlights a number of success stories from the African Union Research Grants
programme on Africa-Europe collaboration in research
and innovation on food and nutrition security
and sustainable agriculture. [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]

CAAST-Net Plus held a stakeholder forum held in Addis Ababa from April 5-6 2016, in association with the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) meeting on the research and innovation partnership (R&I) on food and nutrition security (FNSSA. [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]

This report has been developed by CAAST-Net Plus for the funders, programme/project managers, and communicators in EU-Africa research and innovation networks. Our assumption is that these practitioners may be considering the communication and dissemination (C&D) function in the programmes or projects they work on, and be seeking management ideas and practices for planning and monitoring purposes. Drawing on the CAAST-Net Plus network’s experiences, our goal with this report is to provide a clear and concise resource that responds to that need. [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]

This report looks back on some of the different EU-Africa multilateral research and innovation programming experiences, examining their strengths, challenges and outcomes using specific case studies. It proposes a set of key future considerations for national and regional policymakers in order to assist in the optimal realisation of similar initiatives in the future. [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]

The second CAAST-Net Plus workshop with Africa’s Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and
science academies took place at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 3 April 2016. The
workshop was a follow-on of the first workshop between CAAST-Net Plus, the science academies and
RECs, which was held in February 2016 at the Farm Inn in Pretoria, South Africa. This report
summarises the second workshop’s content and recommendations. [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]

Expectations are high that the brand new research and innovation partnership between Africa and the EU in food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture will make a tangible contribution to the human development priority area of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. For this contribution to be realised in both regions and at scale, much stronger linkages need to be forged between publicly financed R&I actors, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large-scale industrial players. How – and how soon – can this goal be achieved? This Policy Brief draws on results of original survey research undertaken by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Senegal, as part of its involvement in the CAAST-Net Plus project. [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]

The objectives of the evaluation were to provide an overall judgment on the extent to which the EU development cooperation policy has adopted a strategic approach to support R&I and whether the approach was appropriate to enhance capacity to reach development objectives. [Image credit: European Commission]

CAAST-Net Plus was tasked by the Bureau of the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to support the members of the HLPD Bureau’s Working Group 1, South Africa and the United Kingdom, in elaborating a section of the HLPD Expert Working Group’s contribution to a Roadmap for an Africa-EU Research and Innovation Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (‘the Partnership’). Through a desktop review and interviews with key informants, this CAAST-Net Plus report analyses existing EU-Africa R&I projects related to FNSSA and recommends potential instruments for implementing the Partnership over the short-, medium- and long-term.[Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]

The workshop, which was hosted by the Department of Science and Technology of South Africa, took
place from 4-5 February 2016 and brought together a range of stakeholders. The
main objective of the workshop was to discuss the potential role of the RECs in the Africa-EU STI
partnership with the aim of sharing and exchanging information on their priorities, strategic
objectives and milestones. The workshop was also aimed at identifying, modalities, mutual
priorities and synergies for closer collaboration. [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]

Increasing the quantity and quality of the cooperation in research and innovation (R&I) between the EU and Africa will require concerted effort by actors from across sectors, disciplines and regions. In this Policy Brief CAAST-Net Plus shares its proposals for building enduring partnerships that address global challenges. [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]